Seniors Ayers, Taylor make mark during Vols’ NFL Pro Day

The Tennessee football program held its annual Pro Timing Day Wednesday, March 18, as 13 outgoing Vols participated in various agility, speed and strength tests inside the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. Many National Football League teams had a representative on hand to evaluate the latest crop of talent from one of college football’s premier NFL training grounds.
Condredge Holloway, Tennessee’s assistant athletics director for student-athlete relations, organized the event and said many of Tennessee’s former athletes improved their status as potential draft picks during the three-hour workout.
“I think all of our kids showed up ready to go,” Holloway said. “A few of the guys opened up some eyes. I heard from several scouts that they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw today. It was a good day for Tennessee football.”
Robert Ayers, who made waves with his performance at the scouting combine last month, continued to impress those carrying stopwatches and notepads.
“I wanted to come out and show that I’m athletic enough to play in space and that I’ve got good hips and flexibility,” Ayers said. “From talking to the coaches, they feel like I did a good job. Every coach I talked to said they liked what they saw.”
Lucas Taylor also turned heads with a 40 time that ranked as the fastest of the day.
“I was happy to see that Robert didn’t rest on his laurels from the combine,” Holloway said. “He came in ready to work and impressed everyone again. Lucas Taylor ran the best 40 time of the day and definitely improved his stock.”
The NFL Draft takes place April 25-26 in New York City.